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I think the key to winning this thing is Istanbul's narrative. Now that they've made it through the big hurdle of getting on the shortlist, it is up to them to compose a winning story.

Tokyo is a known certainty. They will host great Games and that assured. Spain's finances are a big spike in their coffin. Only the ghost of Samaranch can land them the 2020 Games. But if Istanbul gets most of the technical stuff down, tells the right story and says it with confidence, they'll get the Games. What is that story? Not sure. But given the way London and Rio won, I think there is credence in offering to inspire a generation of children from the Middle East and Muslim world to get into sport and athletics. I know those are things the Turks often try to down play, but given the size of that population base and their relative poor performance at the Olympics, I think it could be their winning argument.

I know some find it dull that there are only three candidates, but this race is more interesting than it appears.

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But if Istanbul gets most of the technical stuff down, tells the right story and says it with confidence, they'll get the Games. What is that story? Not sure.

If they focus on how the games would spread sport through out the region they could win it. We saw in London how every nation had a woman athlete for the first time and it was countries in that area which were the final countries to make the change.

Idea 1:

The bid team could use a flower metaphor. Picture a (computer graphic) close tulip on Istanbul, as it opens it spreads sport through-out Eastern Europe and the Middle-East.

"Spreading Tomorrow"

"Opening freedom"

Idea 2:

The bid team market Istanbul as the 'Gateway to freedom' or something along those lines.

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I think the key to winning this thing is Istanbul's narrative. Now that they've made it through the big hurdle of getting on the shortlist, it is up to them to compose a winning story. Tokyo is a known certainty. They will host great Games and that assured. Spain's finances are a big spike in their coffin. Only the ghost of Samaranch can land them the 2020 Games. But if Istanbul gets most of the technical stuff down, tells the right story and says it with confidence, they'll get the Games. What is that story? Not sure. But given the way London and Rio won, I think there is credence in offering to inspire a generation of children from the Middle East and Muslim world to get into sport and athletics. I know those are things the Turks often try to down play, but given the size of that population base and their relative poor performance at the Olympics, I think it could be their winning argument. I know some find it dull that there are only three candidates, but this race is more interesting than it appears.

I think you're correct in saying the story of inspiring children from the middle east and muslim world is strong. With all thats happend in the last decade, i think the time is right for a much needed Muslim host.

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Everything points out to Tokyo for me but for some reasons i always go back to the same thought.

Since Munich 1972 every Olympics were held in a new country (back then Spain, South Korea, Soviet Union were all new frontiers at the time) or in a commonwealth or better to say english-speaking country.

The only one who won his bid without being new or english was Athens and that was a very particular bid for IOC.

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Everything points out to Tokyo for me but for some reasons i always go back to the same thought.

Since Munich 1972 every Olympics were held in a new country (back then Spain, South Korea, Soviet Union were all new frontiers at the time) or in a commonwealth or better to say english-speaking country.

The only one who won his bid without being new or english was Athens and that was a very particular bid for IOC.

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i'd like to see Istanbul host - but, after the risks of giving the games to Rio, the IOC may be prompted towards a safe pair of hands, Tokyo.

someone suggested that Madrid would not bid again for a long time. I hope that is not the case. Timing is everything, and unfortunately there are too many hurdles in Madrids path presently. However, as the city has 75%+ of the existing venues already in place, bidding sometime in the future may prove successful.

Since Munich 1972 every Olympics were held in a new country (back then Spain, South Korea, Soviet Union were all new frontiers at the time) or in a commonwealth or better to say english-speaking country.

I think Montréal 1976 might take offence at your suggestion it won because it was from an English-speaking country. It is, of course, a Francophone city and is from a partly Francophone country.

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looking at the medal table, with japan being 11th place while spain 21th and turkey 32th. i say Tokyo has the advantage for hosting the next games

I agree..Japan has got 38 medals for their totals though..They're already on to top 12 for the medal table in London Olympics..and now, we're going to pray for them to win a Olympic bid for 2020 by 7th September next year..Also they're nearly wiping off Australia's medal table..don't you think huh Next time..they should get 25 gold medals, 20 silver medals and also 22 bronze medals when they get to Rio Brazil Olympic Games by 2016..is that really true?

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Also they're nearly wiping off Australia's medal table..don't you think huh Next time..they should get 25 gold medals, 20 silver medals and also 22 bronze medals when they get to Rio Brazil Olympic Games by 2016..is that really true?

Well, actually, Australia was the one that overtook Japan in total all time medals earned in recent years.

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On the basis of this I am changing who I want to win from Istanbul to Tokyo....

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan demanded in an interview with “Turkish Weekly” to know why no Western country will acknowledge that Islamophobia is a “crime against humanity.”

Anti-semitism is a crime in Turkey, he said, and Western nations should treat Islamophobia the same.

“The West hasn’t recognized Islamophobia as a crime against humanity — it has encouraged it,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan was responding to violent riots across Muslim countries which some have blamed on a YouTube trailer for a film that parodies not only Muslims but also the Prophet Muhammad.

The Turkish leader told reporters in Sarajevo that his government has successfully suppressed radical responses to the film. “In the last past 10 years, extremes [in Turkey] have been curbed. In a way, we acted like a lightning rod.”

Erdogan will be discussing the film at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 25, He will urge the passage of international legislation against blasphemy.

“I am the prime minister of a nation, of which most are Muslims and that has declared anti-semitism a crime against humanity…. But [The film director] is saying he did this to provoke the fundamentalists among Muslims. When it is in the form of a provocation, there should be international legal regulations against attacks on what people deem sacred, on religion.”

Turkey will begin working towards banning any sacrilegious or hateful speech within its own borders as soon as possible, according to Erdogan. “Turkey could be a leading example for the rest of the world.”

To have brainwashed, poor people in states emerging from civil wars burning US flags over a cartoon is one thing. To have the educated leader of an apparently stable, secular state arguiung alongside the likes of Pakistan for the reintroduction of blasphemy laws is quite another.

I can't and won't supporrt Istanbul 2020 whislt this is their government's position on this issue.

Sorry. I love the city from the few days I spent there, would like to visit again, and would have loved to see them "do a Rio". But this news has led me to change my mind completely on who I'm supporting in this race.

ISTANBUL, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The jailing of hundreds of Turkish army officers including top generals accused of plotting to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan underscored how far he has come in gaining control of the country's once all-powerful military.

But Erdogan, 10 years in power, must grapple with suspicions among critics and even some sympathisers that he is using this and other coup investigations to silence opposition as he sets about taming a militant secularist establishment. Far from flinching, he may seek more power in a revamped presidency.

The verdict against 325 officers at the end of the 21-month trial on Friday would have been unthinkable a decade ago, when generals regularly intervened in policy-making as self-appointed guardians of Turkish secularism.

Judges in the case, dubbed Sledgehammer, handed down prison sentences ranging from six to 20 years against the officers for plotting to wreck Erdogan's rule almost 10 years ago, soon after his Islamist-rooted party swept to power with the biggest share of the vote in decades.

Hilmi Ozkok, who was head of the armed forces at the time, rejected accusations the court's decision was driven by revenge.

"The ruling will serve as a deterrent and has a lesson for everyone ... in understanding how much Turkey and the rest of the world has changed," Ozkok told Milliyet newspaper on Sunday.

Turks reading such words from the mouth of the former armed forces chief will gain a measure of the scale of change since Erdogan's AK party was first elected in 2002. The generals then made no secret of their disdain for a man who had served a brief prison sentence for relgious incitement and had backed a short-lived Islamist government they eased from power in 1997

When AK was elected for a second term in 2007 with an even larger margin of victory, an emboldened Erdogan launched a series of investigations into officers, lawyers, politicians, journalists and others that exposed several alleged conspiracies against the government.

The plots consisted of plans to foment unrest and pave the way for an army takeover. Sledgehammer, a war game scenario played out at a barracks in Istanbul in March 2003, included plans to bomb historic mosques in Istanbul and trigger conflict with Greece.

For many, it was all to easy to believe. Turkey's military, NATO's second biggest, staged three outright coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured a fourth government, the first Islamist-led, from power in 1997.

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not happy with the government, can not say anything about the generals in the jail if its true or not.what i can say Turkey is not a military affected democracy ( hich is a very big step for us) anymore but pity for the whole in jails waiting for 2 years to conclude this judging.. altough make me somehow a bit scared but give the citizens of the country a big responsility to protect the republic which is the real role and true way. problem is if turks ready or not to carry this.

but what he said about islamophobia is not only islam but includes whole sacred religions and stuff.

includes the security of christians in egypt or muslims in myanmarr under the UN umbrella which is logical. all wars and crimes in the history mostly for religions conflicts and why not to save dem as a cultural world heritage protected by whole humanity in a big screen?

there wasnt any huge activities against this movie in Turkey like the rest of the world. but if st make people angry from nigeria to indonesia its st to talk about ha?

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What if the western countries try to propose that muslim countries shouldn't be too sensitive like little girls and NOT control the freedom of expression in other countries? Really stupid of Erdogan. Doesn't seem like he has traveled to other countries and seen how other societies work.

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i wonder why Paris didn't bid for 2020. I think they could win easily. Last Olympics there were in 1924, France doesn't face economic danger like Spain or turkey and and from technical aspect in 2012 they were in top position.